The “extraordinary rendition” of Khalid el-Masri, the bungled CIA kidnapping of a German car salesman over a case of mistaken identity, is going to get a very high profile, very public hearing, as the European Court of Human Rights has agreed to hear the case.
El-Masri was kidnapped during his vacation by the Macedonian government at the behest of the US in late 2003. During his detention he was tortured by the CIA for several months, and sent to Afghanistan and Iraq.
The CIA apparently thought it had Khaled al-Masri, a completely different person, and when they discovered that they had kidnapped an innocent car dealer, they dumped him off in a deserted road in Albania in the middle of the night.
The German government says the US has confirmed that it has “mistakenly” kidnapping el-Masri, and a WikiLeaks cable revealed that the US had warned Germany not to attempt to issue any warrants related to the case.
Though the kidnapping is a recognized fact, the Macedonian government has repeatedly denied any involvement. This is expected to change, as an unnamed senior minister in the Macedonian government is planning to testify at the court that the account Masri gave of the “rendition” was accurate.
And what would the US have done had the Germans had issued warrants? Leave the helpless Germans to their own devices and recall the US bases? By the way, what does kidnapping and torturing German citizens do to the bilateral relationship?
I'm sure it would be different of Khalid El-Masri was a German name. As long as the US doesn't kidnap and torture some guy named Kurt Schnieder or something I'm pretty sure this won't really affect the German-US relationship.
The best part:
"when they discovered that they had kidnapped an innocent car dealer, they dumped him off in a deserted road in Albania in the middle of the night."
If that doesn't say it all about our wonderful, magnanimous, brave and benevolent government. Actions speak much louder than phony, self-righteous platitudes.
How many fingers am I holding up?
Two plus two is five, brother. I can see properly now.